If you have not heard of rapper, former chef and Viceland hostAction Bronson’s low culture cult following, you may soon be aware of his larger-than-life presence. Born in Queens and reportedly living in North Brooklyn, he has become an icon somewhat for his brazen rap stylings, but is probably more acclaimed for his self-proclaimed lyrical adoration of the pre-packaged foods most of us grew up with—chicken tenders, Starburst, Steak-umms; and his more complex and grown-up gourmet tastes—steak that’s aged for over 20 days, lamb that’s been roasted over 7 hours, stuffing filled with truffles and pears. As a chubby, foul-mouthed yet lovable character, he appeals to many: the shameless (those who would happily chow down on dirty water hotdogs), the detail-oriented (people who would source the best ingredients to create a very simple meal) and the fun-food-havers (regular people at a backyard BBQ where the smoker’s been going for hours, where homemade food and booze is abundant and anything goes). Continue reading →
This weekend, Greenpoint played host to the first ever Brooklyn Dirty Book Fair. The event, presented by MATTE Magazine, lasted all day Saturday and Sunday at Point Green Studio (260 Java St), and featured not only titillating books, zines and gifts for sale, but also cheeky performance art (including a cake sitting performance by Lindsay Dye), music and more.
Baste it, taste it and tweak it again. Showdown is a cookbook about feeding the conversation along with the person.
This week, we sat down with Greenpointer and self-described “meat-head” Jenn de la Vega to talk about how competing (and winning) local competitions sparked Showdown, the cookbook.
GP: Hey Jenn! Tell us about Showdown.
De la Vega: Showdown is a compilation of 100 recipes I’ve entered into competitions. It’s not only about the ones that won. I think the big part of the story is the failure and journey along the way, building a strange cooking career out of competition, creativity and personal challenges.
GP: Did you always want to be a chef?
Jenn breaks out into a big grin. De la Vega: Actually, I never had intentions of being a chef.Continue reading →
Author Geoff Cobb reads colorful tales of legendary Greenpoint politician, Peter McGuinness on Tuesday night at Shayz Lounge.
Last night, local historian, teacher, and author Geoffrey Cobb delighted a full house at Shayz Lounge (130 Franklin Street) with a selection of readings from his latest book, The King of Greenpoint. The book is about Peter J. McGuinness, the man for whom McGuinness Boulevard is named.
McGuinness was born on Eagle Street in 1888, and despite having no high school eduction and being a 300-pound lumber handler and blue collar laborer, managed to become one of the most influential politicians Greenpoint has ever seen.
Through pure charisma, lots of street smarts, and an ardent dedication to his everyday, working class constituents, McGuinness was able to get elected as an alderman in 1919, thus beginning a long and rich political career. Continue reading →
Want some Summer reading about our neighborhood? Here’s a list of books related to Greenpoint. People ask me how I researched my account of local history Greenpoint Brooklyn’s Forgotten Past. The answer partially is that I read the books in the list below.
1) Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia, Joe Pistone
The amazing story of how an Italian American F.B.I agent got into the Greenpoint Mafia, risking his life, but also taking down more than a hundred mobsters.
2) Historic Greenpoint, William Felter
The first book on local history, Felter published his remarkable book about a century ago. It tells the area’s history, but omits the dark chapters of Greenpoint’s Past—well worth a read though. And since it’s out of copyright, it’s free to download. Continue reading →
Welcome to a new Greenpointers food series called A Taste for Books. We’ll be taking a page from the monthly cookbook club and potluck hosted by our Greenpoint neighbors, Archestratus (visit them at 160 Huron Street), featuring a different cookbook each month paired with insights from the monthly discussion. Thanks for joining us on this adventure that will highlight scrumptious recipes, dissect interesting ingredients and generally recap what happens when you mix cooks with books in Greenpoint.
Book lovers and foodies will truly appreciate the newest addition to the neighborhood: Archestratus Books and Food. The new store is a bookshop that specifically focuses on cookbooks and books related to food, along with gifts, pens, notecards, and cooking gifts and accessories. There’s also a café in the back serving sweet and savory homemade Sicilian pastries, along with tea, coffee, beer, and wine.
The bookshop is named for Archestratus, who was a poet and philosopher, and one of the first foodies (before that was a term). Continue reading →
What happens when two New York transplants—a writer and an illustrator—feel that New York is as much their home as do its natives? They join creative forces to write a children’s book about immigration, called Larry and Friends.
We have a big shout out today for our Events Editor (she does the lovely What’s Happening posts weekly) and all around super woman, Oriana Leckert, who announced yesterday that her own blog, Brooklyn Spaces, will become a BOOK. That’s right, a real object that you can hold in your hands with fancy turny-things called PAGES.
Brooklyn Spaces: 50 Outrageous Hubs of Culture & Creativity will be published by Monacelli Press in Spring 2015, and Oriana be writing it this summer. Like her blog, it will be a collection of all the most brilliant, bizarre, and beautiful places Brooklyn has to offer. Continue reading →
Robin Nagle had all kinds of cool, old-timey photos about trash.
Do you ever stop to think about the enormous undertaking and organization required to keep New York City clean? Robin Nagle does, and she wants everyone in New York City (and beyond) to realize just how different our day to day lives would be without the impressive work of the sanitation department.
On Thursday night, Robin Nagle spoke to a group of about 50 people at Acme Studios in a talk entitled “Invisible Trash: Exploring New York City’s Garbage.” She covered 400 years of garbage collection history and the ins-and-outs of snow removal, street cleaning, and disaster response in the Department of Sanitation of New York. Her book, Picking Up, was also on sale which chronicles her findings while studying the history and culture of sanitation workers, as well as her time working trash removal with the department. Continue reading →
